Abstract

Since 1993, when the European Space Agency (ESA) proposed the use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems reflected signals for sea mesoscale altimetry, a wide range of applications have appeared. This paper focuses on the retrieval of significant wave height (SWH) and the mean sea surface level (MSSL) from a ground-based experiment using the interference pattern technique (IPT). Two different observables on the IPT are analyzed: the oscillation frequency and the angle where coherency is lost. The point where coherency in the reflection process is lost can be related to the Rayleigh criterion for smooth surfaces and helps to determine the SWH. Spectral analysis on the interference pattern helps to determine the MSSL. A three-month field campaign was performed on the